Global Times: 2025 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road kicks off in Kunming

BEIJING, Sept. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2025 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road, which focuses on the role of media in fostering consensus and gathers collective strengths to promote high-quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation, opened in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province on Tuesday. More than 200 foreign representatives from 87 countries, as well as international and regional organizations, and 165 media outlets and institutions, attended the forum.  

Participants highlighted the significant achievements of the BRI since its proposal by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, recognizing it as a widely embraced global public good and platform for international cooperation. They noted that the recent Global Governance Initiative (GGI) proposed by President Xi at the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus" Meeting in Tianjin has contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions to a more just and equitable global governance system, while opening new avenues for high-quality BRI development.

At the opening ceremony of the forum, Pavel Negoitsa, general director of Russia's Rossiyskaya Gazeta, emphasized that the BRI has gained support from over 100 countries and international organizations. For these countries and organizations, the global internet should similarly serve as a crucial platform for spreading humanity's outstanding cultural achievements and their positive impacts.

Negoitsa emphasized that the global internet governance system should move toward a more fair, reasonable direction that more equitably reflects the opinions and interests of the majority of countries.

Ben Chacko, editor of the UK's Morning Star, told the Global Times that the forum stood out as a highly multicultural and open-minded international event, centered on peace and cooperative exchange. During the forum, many media representatives from BRI partner countries shared firsthand accounts of how the initiative has transformed lives in their nations, demonstrating the important value of media.

Chacko believes the GGI carries significant positive significance as it opens up avenues for more countries to participate in global governance on an equal footing. This effort is vital for building a fair and reasonable international order.

In his address at the forum's opening ceremony, Hani Wafa, editor-in-chief of Al Riyadh Newspaper, stated that modern media has evolved beyond merely transmitting news or facilitating communication. It now plays a central role in shaping public opinion, clarifying truth and supporting development policies. Therefore, ambitious initiatives like the BRI require responsible media coverage that prioritizes accuracy and credibility, while highlighting their humanistic and economic benefits for people across participating countries.

Media representatives pledged to deepen collaboration by embracing and promoting the Spirit of the Silk Road, which represents peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, disseminating a vision of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations. They committed to documenting and narrating the BRI's practical outcomes, gathering positive momentum for win-win cooperation, and advancing cross-cultural understanding through quality journalism to break down barriers and consolidate efforts toward building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Co-hosted by the People's Daily, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Yunnan Provincial Committee and the People's Government of Yunnan Province, the forum is themed "Shared Media Responsibility for Exchanges and Mutual Learning among Civilizations." It comprises an opening ceremony, a main forum, several sub-forums, an award ceremony for the second Silk Road Global News Awards and the 10+3 Media Cooperation Forum.

Following the forum, Chinese and international media representatives will work together to cover stories in Yunnan and other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China.

Lali Mwamaka Sharifu from Kenya was awarded the Nomination Prize at the second Silk Road Global News Awards for her documentary, The "Chinese Girl" from Kenya. In an interview with the Global Times, she said she has witnessed the BRI establishing diverse cooperation bridges between China and many countries, including Kenya.

The award-winning documentary focuses on the outcomes of BRI cooperation, using Sharifu's personal journey of studying traditional Chinese medicine in China as a narrative thread to connect friendly exchanges between China and Africa. This recognition has strengthened her determination to use film and writing to document more stories of China-Africa collaboration and her fulfilling experiences in China.  

Since its inception in 2014, the Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road has been held nine times. It has attracted more than 1,000 representatives from global media outlets and international and regional organizations in over 100 countries and regions, building a broad consensus and momentum for advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202509/1343673.shtml

SOURCE Global Times